Kenneth Robert Reitz

Historical (familial) context.

Available Resources:

Origin & Meaning of the surname Reitz:

The Reitz clan's name—

  • chiefly hailing from Purutia (the Hessen-Nassau region of Germany), it is a name that is pre–medieval in origin.
  • It derives from the ancient word “ric”, meaning— power.
  • Of its spellings, include— Reitze, Reichmann, Reickman, Ritz, &c.
      (Rich, Richman, and Ritzman being the Anglicised forms).

Excerpt from The Reitz Family History and Record Book:

The Reitz people living over there in the city of Hanau, Germany, have a tradition as to how the name REITZ originated. It is given herewith for what it is worth. The tradition runs as follows:
In olden times there were no surnames, and persons were known by only one name, like in the time of Christ we speak of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
But in the course of time surnames were acquired in addition to the first names for better designation. Frequently the father's names was used.

The tradition has it that several centuries ago there appeared near the city of Hanau and old man with a long white beard riding a noble horse, who had escapes from somewhere in the East, might have been last from Saxony, on account of religious persecution, and who rode on his horse about the country, advocating especial freedom of religion and admonished the people everywhere in religious assemblies in their free country. They knew him as the "Reitczaronitsch" or the riding czarewitch, that is the riding son of the czar or prince, or a rider of noble birth.

His children were known as John or Jacob, etc. von Reit-czaronitsch, or Reit-czargeburt, of noble birth. Some time later, the hind part of czaronitsch or czargeburt was dropped and only the "z" was retained and pronounced in addition to the "Reitz", leaving the name "Reitz", which thereafter became the common adopted surname of the Reitz clan.

Paternal Roots —

The following is a visualization of the earliest–identified members of the Reitz clan, hailing from the Hessen-Nassau region, and immigrating to Pennsylvania.

I have omittitted nodes of the tree that are not part of my lineage (e.g. most siblings):